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Secrecy vs. Public Right To Know

By Mike Sutton

AGENT ORANGE AND V.A. COMMITTEE

(The following article is a report from the VVAW representative to the VA's oversight committee studying the effects of Agent Orange. It gives a vivid picture of how quickly the government works when it wants to do nothing—in this, the 11th quarterly meeting, the oversight committee was given a censored copy of a protocol—a plan for a study on the effects of Agent Orange. There's one hell of a long ways to go!)

At long last the scientific protocol for the VA's epidemiological study has been accepted from the team headed by Dr. Gary Spivey of the UCLA School of Medicine and paid for, under a VA contract, with taxpayer funds. The VA was assigned responsibility for this study under Public Law 96-151 (Dec, 1979) while the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was authorized to establish an Agent Orange Working group to oversee and coordinate all scientific and governmental efforts pertaining to the herbicide problem. Yet, lest we celebrate this tardy arrival of the scientific protocol, brothers and sisters: let it be understood that certain critical portions of this document have been classified—withheld from the public and the Vietnam vets who were exposed to Agent Orange (76,316 of whom have now been examined for the VA's Agent Orange registry as of the end of 1981).

Perhaps the VA is conforming with the Reagan Administration's increasing passion for classification.Those portions of the protocol which have been classified are the physical examination procedures and the personal questionnaire.Citing an over-riding need to control scientific date together with unspecified legal considerations, the VA accepted Spivey's recommendation to classify and shared the entire protocol only with the Science Panel of the Agent Orange working group (HHS) and the Office of Technological Assessment.The VA's own Advisory Committee on the Health-Related Effects of Herbicides (ACHREH)—which, outside of Congressional hearings, is the only public window open to observe the Agent Orange studies—received the edited version of the protocol at its eleventh quarterly meeting on Feb 25, 1982.

Dr. Spivey would understandably opt for secrecy since he displayed his bias last year in legislative testimony in California, that the goal of an Agent Orange study was to "alleviate veterans' fears" over Agent Orange exposure.

Defending the classification issue, early in the Feb 25th meeting, Mr Maurice LeVois, the new Director of the VA's Agent Orange Research and Education Office, argued that those portions which were classified were excessively lengthy and time was needed for their revision.He then stretched credulity by stating, as an example, that the questionnaire had "four pages of questions on wax in the ears." If that is the case—how much more nonsense was paid for by the taxpayer in this "edited' protocol?

Having been presented with this edited version of the protocol, the ACHREH committee members representing the American Legion and the VFW commented on the wisdom of classification and upon the VA's failure to consult with this committee prior to classification.They pointed out that classified questionnaires would quickly become public once they began to be administered; that classification of any materials had the potential for undermining veterans' confidence in the epidemiological study, and that the VA erred by not seeking prior advice from ACHREH before classifying.Thomas J. Fitzgerald, MD, observed that, 'as long as you go to secrecy, you are bound to raise doubts." He further pointed out that, "if, indeed, you have an Advisory Panel that is not sharing in the total protocol, then the validity of this Panel has to be raised."

Mr LeVois, at the conclusion of this Committee meeting, reflected upon the matter of confidentiality by asking the Committee members to "consider the damage that can be done by biasing a study versus the damage that can be done by the bad will that could be generated by the apparent aura of secrecy...because I don't want to jeopardize the study on the basis of good science but bad politics."

Atta boy, Mr. Levois; you shouldn't be allowed to stand alone behind that bleated reflection.On May 13th, at 8:30am at the VA Central Office in Washington, the ACHREH holds its next meeting.Since that meeting coincides with Dewey Canyon IV, concerned vets will be there to support openness and oppose secrecy.

Mike Sutton
Washington DC
VVAW